1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to absorbent materials worn in contact with the skin, and more specifically, to nursing or breast pads which may be comfortably secured and fitted to breasts of various sizes and shapes without the use of a brassiere.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disposable nursing or breast pads are known in the art and are used by new mothers to prevent milk, which may leak from the breasts, from staining garments worn by the mother. Prior art breast pads require that a brassiere is worn to prevent the pad from slipping out of the proper position. While the use of a brassiere may be desirable for daytime wear, the brassiere may prove to be restrictive and uncomfortable when sleeping. Furthermore, movement during sleep may cause the pad to slip from a proper position thereby causing leaked milk to stain bedding and/or night clothes. Also, the breast pads of the prior art do not adequately adjust to breasts of different sizes and shapes.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,442,268 (Bird), 4,047,534 (Thomaschefsky et al.), 4,074,721 (Smits et al.), 4,125,114 (Repke), and French Patent 958,747 show breast pads designed to be inserted into a brassiere.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,666 (Fryslie) shows a bandage using a skin safe adhesive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,074 (Diaz) shows a self supporting brassiere with a separate adhesive strip for holding the brassiere in place.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,700,699 (Tollerud et al.) and 5,603,653 (Hartman) show breast pads with adhesive on an outer surface so that the pads adhere to a brassiere.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,305 (Fochler) shows a breast pad attached to a garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,492 (Mitchell et al.) shows a breast pad which is molded to fit the breast and supported in a brassiere.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,471 (Nakai) shows a breast nipple cover with adhesive for direct attachment to the wearer's skin. The cover is also provided with cut out portions to prevent wrinkles. The cover is constructed of air permeable paper and soft felt and would not be effective to absorb mother's milk.
British Patents Numbers 269,399 and 1,143,146 respectively show padding for garments and a method for making seamless pads.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a disposable breast pad solving the aforementioned problems is desired.